JACKSONVILLE – The Jets have gone from playing bad to looking like the NFL’s worst team. At 1-3, it appears there is not plenty of time left, but actually too much left in a season that already seems as endless as the questions why the most expensive team in football can’t tackle or hold on to the ball.

In yesterday’s 28-3 loss to the Jaguars, the Jets lost Vinnie Testaverde to a bruised shoulder on the first series and Wayne Chrebet to a bruised knee for much of the second and third quarters. But for three weeks, in which they have been outscored an incomprehensible 102-13, they have played like a team that has entirely lost its soul.

Either the failure to belong on the same field with New England three weeks ago took a much deeper hit on the Jets’ confidence than they originally believed, or they are not nearly as good as they still say they believe. If it’s likely a combination of both, there remain so many areas so lacking, it’s hard to see a shift of starting quarterbacks or one win against Kansas City next week turning things around.

Backup QB Chad Pennington passed for 281 yards yesterday, but the Jets still couldn’t run the ball (78 yards) or hang onto it (four turnovers), while the defense continued to give up big plays. That might be a reflection of six new defensive starters, or poor personnel decisions (Aaron Beasley, Damien Robinson and is that Sam Cowart out there or a shadow of the man he used to be?) going back two years.

Or, it might be a reflection of a lack of discipline instilled by the coaching staff. But whatever the reasons, at no time yesterday did the Jets look like they would make it a game against a Jacksonville team that few think will turn out to be very good.

Two of the turnovers led directly to Jacksonville touchdowns. One was a fumbled snap that panicked punter Matt Turk turned into an interception, the other a Jason Craft outsmarting of Laveranues Coles for inside position on a Pennington look-in.

Still, the resultant drives were of 52 and 46 yards, plenty of space for the Jets to get a stop, just like the offense had opportunities to get some of its confidence back under Pennington. In the fourth quarter, Kevin Swayne fumbled what was close to a first-down completion at the Jacksonville 31 and Lamont Jordan coughed up the ball on the Jacksonville one.

The game was long decided by then. In fact, it looked like a done deal as soon as Fred Taylor outfought, then stepped over Beasley on a 72-yard catch and run to the one on Jacksonville’s first play from scrimmage. There were ongoing breakdowns of containment on the rolling Mark Brunell, blown coverages, and 142 rushing yards by Fred Taylor, many on second effort shaming Jets’ tacklers.

“We told the players, if you turn the ball over, [commit] stupid penalties, don’t tackle on defense, you’re not going to win football games,” said Herman Edwards.

There is a big difference between intentions and results. While the Jets say they have to look in the mirror, the coaches’ job is to get them to better like what they see.

“If we have to have a practice that all we do is tackle, then that’s what we have to do,” said Mo Lewis.

Back to basics, for a fundamentally bad football team, outscored 102-13, not even in the ballpark it appeared to build more on false confidence than hard work.